A Nigerian Leaving Certificate student from Palmerstown Community School who is facing deportation in the coming weeks has said he "can't really study" because he is constantly thinking about his situation.
Speaking for the first time as he prepares for his exams, which begin next week, Tunde Omoniyi (20) said his meeting with Garda immigration officials to discuss his deportation will now take place at the end of the month.
When he received a letter some two weeks ago from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) requesting a meeting to arrange his deportation, he said he got "so upset I threw my books away".
"I'm trying to study, but all the time I'm thinking of it," he told The Irish Times. "I can't really study. I'm studying English now and I can't really think of it."
Tunde is a classmate of fellow Nigerian student Olukunle Elukanlo, who was brought back to the State after the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, reversed a decision to deport him.
Tunde said he had received a letter yesterday from the GNIB asking him to attend a deportation meeting on June 29th. Previously the date for this meeting had been set for next Tuesday, June 7th, one day before the Leaving begins.
While he was aware of attempts by his legal representatives to launch a High Court challenge to the decision to deport him, Tunde said the fact that his meeting with the GNIB had been postponed until after the exams had done little to relieve the stress.
The Green Party's spokesman on education, Paul Gogarty TD, who intends to raise the issue in the Dáil, yesterday urged Mr McDowell to "show some sensitivity" regarding Tunde's situation by removing the urgency of his meeting with the GNIB.
He had told very few people in school about his situation, as he was anxious not to affect their own performance in the State exams, Tunde said.
"I have lots of friends here and everything, but I [ didn't] want to tell them as they might stand up and protest," he said. "It's going to affect my own performance, but I don't want it to affect theirs."
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said it could not comment on individual cases.
The Garda press office said it was also unable to comment.